April 12, 2012 5:35 pm

The linebacking corps for the Seahawks just got a little deeper.

The team announced they have signed linebackers Leroy Hill and Matt McCoy to one-year contracts.

Hill, who has played his entire seven-year career with the Seahawks after being drafted in the third round out of Clemson, had been a free agent. The market cooled while he dealt with an arrest for marijuana possession charge in February that was later dropped in March.

Last season, Hill had 89 tackles and four sacks while playing in 16 games. He is one of two remaining players from Seattle’s NFC championship team in 2005.

McCoy has been with the Seahawks the last two years. He was placed on the injured reserve with a knee injury after playing in four games.

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Gregg Bell joined The News Tribune in July 2014. Bell had been the director of writing for the University of Washington's athletic department for four years. He was the senior national sports writer in Seattle for The Associated Press from 2005-10, covering the Seahawks in their first Super Bowl season and beyond. He's also been The Sacramento Bee's beat writer on the Oakland Athletics and Raiders. The native of Steubenville, Ohio, is a 1993 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and a 2000 graduate of the University of California, Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism.

It’s good news for sure. At best, they play really well on a leading defense. At least, a Malcolm Smith or a rookie gets more time to develop while the veterans hold the fort. As long as they don’t decline (too much anyway) Seattle will at least be solid.

Why give him a 3 year deal? He’s a solid player on the wrong side of his prime… Had one of his best years last year and generated 0 interest from any other team. Seahawks have full control and they know it. This my friends is how you run a franchise….

I’m not much of an expert on this sort of thing, but if I have it right the ‘Hawks need a run stuffer in the middle and faster, coverage kind of guys on the outside? So, is KJ Wright a run stuffer? Is Hill fast enough to cover a tight end? What else do we need to know about the LB position as it stands right now?

I’m not so sure I agree with the one year contracts. Why not sign some of these guys for 2, 3, or even 4 years? As long as the guaranteed money is no higher than you’d pay for a one year contract you can simple release them if they don’t pan out. Maybe I’m missing something…

Awesome, awesome. If these guys do well, they’ll get resigned before they can hit free agency, probably, and if they are beat out by younger hungrier players, they may even find themselves cut. More competition, more depth, really really great. I like both of these guys and if they have enough left in the tank to hold down a starting spot, or stay on the roster for depth, that’s wonderful, but if they even just keep the Seahawks flexible in the draft, that’s plenty fine too.

The Seahawks are really shallow at guard and need to address the hole if they expect new QB Matt Flynn to actually contribute this season or for the next few seasons. DeCastro is an instant upgrade and will look great in the new Seahawks uniforms.

skavage, they are giving these guys one year contracts to keep them hungry. Players often play better in the last year of their contract when they are trying to prove they deserve more money. I love the philosophy of Carroll and Schneider…they say, “here’s a one year contract, now go prove you deserve to be here.” That’s how you keep a team full of hungry players. You pay money to the dominant players, and then keep the others playing for their next contract. It’s really a solid business model…besides, if things go the way they should, we won’t want Hill or Mccoy on the roster next season because we will have developed some younger Linebackers who will be ready to step up. You can’t build through the draft by giving older players long term contracts (unless those players are dominant).

And of course we could give them longer contracts and then just cut them early…but why be dishonest about our intentions? If Carroll knows he only wants Hill for one more year, why make him think he’s in the team’s long-term plans? I appreciate the straight-forward approach they have to signing players.

Oh, and also…if you are offering a small amount of money to a player, why would they agree to take such a small amount over the course of 3 or 4 years? That just locks them into a small contract, whereas if they take a 1 year contract and prove themselves to be worth more money after one season, they have leverage to get more money. So the one year contract is beneficial for both sides…it’s not exactly easy to get a veteran to agree to 4 straight years of low salary (probably impossible, actually)…and if they did agree to it, would they really play their hardest for you, knowing that no matter how well they play they won’t make any more money the next season (without maybe holding out)? …Probably not.

Big fan of these Re-signings and of the improved competition at the LB position.

After reading that Farnsworth artcile from earlier, it definitely seems to me like Floyd and Decastro could be legitimate options. he talked about how they grade players in the draft in relation to players currently on the team. Well Floyd probably has a pretty high grade when compared to BMW (or would he be compared to Rice?). Decastro must have a monster grade when compared to… Who is our official LG now?

I doubt Hightower or Kuelchy grade out as bigger upgrades to Ruud, and the pass rushers doubfully grade out as well vs Clemmons.

I wouldn’t be shocked to see Decastro followed by the likes of Curry, then Irvin

Anyone here realize that Clemons is on the wrong side of 30 and he’s our only legit pass rusher? Only three times in his career has he had more than 4 sacks in a season. Sure, he’s gotten new life under Mr. Happy, but how much longer can this continue when you’re at the age where players don’t get better? It’s not like he was a legit superstar for his entire career where those guys were great and even when they decline in their early 30s they are still better than most b/c they were so much ahead of the curve to begin with. We’re in for a rude awakening if we try to go with him as our only real pass rusher again (especially if he gets hurt). The time to get pass rushing help (trade and/or draft) is now. I don’t happen to value the Mike LB that many here do, especially since our guy has guys like Mebane, Branch, Big Red, etc. in front of him to eat of blockers and put him in better position to succeed. I’d love Pro Bowlers at every position, Pat Willis included, but if I’m going to have a weaker spot on this team than some others, I’m okay w/it being at MLB. The QB position the the most important position, but getting to the opposing QB is right up there; not someone to help stop the run on a DL that excels at it, for the most part.

Bobby you are simplifying the MLB position a tad. The MLB is the QB of the Defense responsible for making the calls as well as last second adjustments according to what he see’s on the offensive side of the ball. I’m not arguing with you but recognize we need a better option at MLB than Ruud. I believe we need another pass rusher capable of playing opposite Clemons or taking over for him in case of injury. I also see the value of taking a Decastro or Reiff if available as a powerful offensive line can dictate how the other team plays and if we play keep away with a strong run game and hit em hard with play action pass for scores. The other team is then forced into passing and even Red can be a serviceable pass rusher if all he has to worry about is rushing.

I do not get all this talk of Coaples taking plays off and not working hard? His stats in college were better then anyone in the country the last 2 years. I think he is just such a natural athlete he makes it look easy. If he really had the 2 seasons he just had while taking plays off and not working hard he must be one of the greatest players ever.

Hill’s hunger comes in the form of the munchies during the offseason of a contract year with all that weed…

Seriously though, this does give them more room to draft elsewhere in the 1st or 2nd rounds. I’m ok with Kuechly, but before the Hill signing, they would have been very pressed to have to pick him. Now Hightower becomes a good possibility in the 2nd round. I like both, but still think they need to go with a DE in the 1st round.

I agree with piperfeltcher. Coples is getting a bad rap about taking plays off. In film I’ve seen, I don’t see that whatsoever. North Carolina just had some serious NCAA sanctions placed on them that hurt recruitment. He didn’t have much help around him and moved inside a good amount of time where he can’t work in space. I think the bowl game with Missouri is where people say he’s taking plays off. If you watch that game, you’ll notice Missouri’s gimmick offense runs the ball all the time, so there’s little pass rushing to be done. The other thing is those NC DTs suck. No wonder why the move him inside a lot.

I know the MLB is the “QB of the defense” but there’s no way he’s the most important player on defense in the NFL today (we will admit that the QB is the most important player on the offense/team though). I’d take a great cover CB or a dominant pass rusher any day of the week over a great MLB. It wasn’t always this way, but it is now.

A guy like Ruud may not be stellar, but he’s smart enough to make the calls better than any rookie Mike who would “QB” the defense, even though he won’t be one of the better players on defense. Also, I’m not saying Ruud is a stud, but I don’t care if we go LB in the 1st and 2nd… it’s not going to matter if we can’t get to the opposing QB.

Again, Curry vs. Kuechly is apples and oranges. Kuechly is really the anti-Curry. Curry was a workout warrior people fell in love with especially at the combine. Yet another reason why I find watching combine drills so pointless. Nothing but made for TV crap the NFL uses to sell some ratings in the offseason. When you hear about late buzz, be wary. Very wary.

OTOH, Kuechly has LB instincts in spades. Watch some film on him. He’s great at reading a QB, diagnosing a play and closing on the tackle. None of those 3 things could be said about Curry. I still want Coples or Mercilus, but I wouldn’t be disappointed one bit with Kuechly.

Decastro is probably the best pick, but i also agree with others that we have significant needs at pass rushing d-line & also still at LB. IMO, heater was our best LB.

Still say it’s a shame we selected Carp over Dalton last year, though I am on the Flynn bandwagon. I am NOT on the Carp bandwagon, however. I expect him to be a 1st round bust, & I worry about Okung’s tendency to injury.

Would it be a shocker if Lofa came back for a minimum $ contract (or has he already signed elsewhere?)?

BobbyK is right about Mike LB. Right now, they have a bunch of guys on the DL to eat up blockers so the LBs are free to make the tackle. This lowers the emphasis on the need to pick top LBs to make plays ala Chicago. Kuechly would be a great pickup nevertheless, but the greater impact would come from a pass rushing DE.

Guys, with the current roster, I think you can make a good case to draft any of Kuechly, DeCastro, Floyd, Mercilus, Ingram or Upshaw at 12. We are going to get a terrific player that will help us right away.

Hey Neklok, Curry was never a can’t miss prospect. Sure, the media was all over him, but what they failed to realize was the only reason for his success was that his mom held him back in school 10 years, so he was much bigger and faster than his schoolmates. Once we drafted him, he was already 30 years old and on the downside of his career. Sure, birth records said he was younger… those are pretty easy to fake.

Aaron Curry was a workout warrior? This is the same guy that had 105 tackles in 2008 and won the Butkis award, and you think he was a workout warrior. Bull.

Saying comparing Keuchly to Curry pre-draft is apples and oranges is also complete b.s. I’m not saying that they are the same player, but Curry WAS a very good, even great college LB that had a TON of tackles behind the LOS but maybe doesn’t have the lateral quickness to excel in the NFL, particularly outside. Does Keuchly have a limitation, or were his high number of tackles downfield due to a poor D scheme? I don’t know. But I can see why Seahawk fans might be leery of picking him early. You’re welcome to crush on him, birds eye he has great stats and good film, but don’t act like Curry didn’t also.

All this media/fan speculation gets so old right about now. Obviously, as a Hawk fan it’s impossible not to wonder what they’re gonna do. Personally, I’d love to see Floyd. The more I watch the more I like. The guy idolizes Fitz, says all the right things, has sticky fingers, and loves to work hard. I hope he’s there at #12.

St Louis is on the rise w/all those future picks and Fisher at the helm. SF is tough on D. Sure, ARI is a mess but the NFC West is gonna be a tougher division in the next few years than ever before.

Grab a TD maker.

JS/PC have proven their eye for late round gems on D. Offensive gems are hard to find late and they seem to have found something in Baldwin. Unless they truly believe BMW can be a redzone beast, they’ve got to get a big outside target for Flynn. Otherwise, there’s gonna be a lot of FGs and those don’t win ballgames.

It’s interesting that Seattle didn’t trade with Cincinnati for Keith Rivers. The Giants got him for basically a 6th round pick (last pick in the 5th.) Rivers does have injury problems, but Seattle could afford his salary and Carroll should know him well. I suppose that tells the story right there.

We only have 6 picks in the draft. Not sure we can afford to spare any unless it was for someone without any question marks attached. A 3rd or 4th for Mike Wallace (and a big contract)? Sure, but even then, I think the philosophy here is to invest the big money in our own guys who have earned it here in practices and on Sundays.

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